Coal Destroys Mountains

6 Ways Coal Destroys With

Mountaintop Removal

1. CLEARING

Before mining can begin, all topsoil
and vegetation must be removed. Because coal companies frequently are
responding to short-term fluctuations in the price of coal, these trees are
often not even used comercially in the rush to get the coal, but instead are
burned or sometimes illegally dumped into valley fills.

2. BLASTING

Many Appalachian coal seams lie deep
below the surface of the mountains. Accessing these seams through surface
mining can require the removal of 500-800 feet or more of elevation. Blowing up
this much mountain is accomplished by using millions of pounds of explosives.

3. DIGGING

Coal and
debris is removed by using this piece of machinery, called a dragline. A
dragline stands 22 stories high and can hold 24 compact cars in its bucket.
These machines can cost up to $100 million, but are favored by coal companies
because they displace the need for hundreds of jobs.

4. DUMPING WASTE

The waste from the mining
operation, also known as overburden or spoil, is dumped into nearby valleys,
burying streams. According to an EPA environmental impact statement, more than
1,000 miles of Appalachian streams were permitted to be buried as of 2001.

5. PROCESSING

The coal
is washed and treated before it is loaded on trains. The excess water left over
from this process is called coal slurry or sludge and is stored in open coal
impoundments. Coal sludge is a mix of water, coal dust, clay and toxic
chemicals such as arsenic mercury, lead, copper, and chromium. Impoundments are
held in place by mining debris, making them very unstable.

6. RECLAMATION

While reclamation efforts such as
stabilization and revegetation are required for mountaintop removal sites, in
practice, state agencies that regulate mining are generous with granting
waivers to coal companies.

Most sites receive little more than a spraying of
exotic grass seed, but even the best reclamation provides no comfort to nearby
families and communities whose drinking water supplies have been polluted and
whose homes will be threatened by floods for the hundred or thousands of years
it will require to re-grow a forest on the mined site.

Top 5 Reasons Moutaintop Removal Destroys our Environment

#1: More than 1,200 miles
of streams across the region have been buried or polluted [by mountaintop
removal waste] between 1985 and 2001. An additional 535 miles of streams have
been permitted since then.

#2: More than 1 million
acres total have been destroyed by mountaintop removal.

#3: In West Virginian's Appalachian Plateau,
iron and manganese concentrations exceeded US Environmental Protection Agency
drinking water guidelines in at least 40% of the wells, and about 70% of the
wells near reclaimed surface coal mines.

#4: Less than 1 percent
of mined land is currently reused for any development purpose.

#5: The EPA estimates
that mountaintop removal will double over the next decade.